Simonians
The Simonians were a Gnostic sect of the 2nd century which regarded Simon Magus as its founder and traced its doctrines, known as Simonianism, back to him. The sect flourished in Syria, in various districts of Asia Minor and at Rome. In the 3rd century remnants of it still existed,Origen, Contra Celsum, I, 57; VI, 11 which survived until the 4th century. Justin Martyr wrote in his Apology AD, the sect of the Simonians appears to have been formidable, for he speaks four times of their founder, Simon.Dictionary of Christian Biography, Vol. 4, p. 682Hastings' Dictionary of the Apostolic Church, Vol 2, p. 496 The Simonians are mentioned by Hegesippus; In Eusebius of Caesarea, Church History, IV, xxii. their doctrines are quoted and opposed in connection with Simon Magus by Irenaeus,Adversus haereses, I, xxii. by the Philosophumena,Hippolytus, Philosophumena, VI, ix-xx; X, xii. and later by Epiphanius of Salamis."Haer.", xxii. Origen also mentions that some of the sect were called Heleniani.Origen, Contra Celsum, v. 62 The Great Declaration In the Philosophumena of Hippolytus, Simon's doctrine is recorded according to his reputed work, The Great Declaration, and it is evident that we have the doctrinal opinions of the Simonians as they had developed in the 2nd century. As Hippolytus himself in more than one placeHippolytus, Philosophumena, iv. 51, vi. 20 points out, it is an earlier form of the Valentinian doctrine, but there are things reminiscent of Aristotelian and Stoic physics. Outline The whole book is a mixture of Hellenism and Hebraism, in which the same method of allegory is applied to Homer and Hesiod as to Moses. Starting from the assertion of Moses that God is "a devouring fire" (Deuteronomy 4:24), Simon combined therewith the philosophy of Heraclitus which made fire the first principle of all things. This first principle he denominated a "Boundless Power," and he declared it to dwell in the sons of men, beings born of flesh and blood. But fire was not the simple thing that the many imagined, and Simon distinguished between its hidden and its manifest qualities, maintaining, like John Locke, that the former were the cause of the latter. Like the Stoics he conceived of it as an intelligent being. From this ungenerated being sprang the generated world of which we know, whereof there were six roots, having each its inner and its outer side, and arranged as follows: ]] These six roots, Mind, Voice, Reason, Reflection, Name, and Thought, are also called six powers. Commingled with them all was the great power, the "Boundless Power." This was that which "has stood, stands, and will stand," the seventh power (root) corresponding to the seventh day after the six days of creation. This seventh power existed before the world, it is the Spirit of God that moved upon the face of the waters (Genesis 1:2). It existed potentially in every child of man, and might be developed in each to its own immensity. The small might become great, the point be enlarged to infinity.Hippolytus, Philosophumena, iv. 51, v. 9, vi. 14 This indivisible point which existed in the body, and of which none but the spiritual knew, was the Kingdom of Heaven, and the grain of mustard-seed.Hippolytus, Philosophumena, v. 9 But it rested with us to develop it, and it is this responsibility which is referred to in the words—"that we may not be condemned with the world" (1 Corinthians 11:32). For if the image of the Standing One were not actualized in us, it would not survive the death of the body. "The axe," he said, "is nigh to the roots of the tree: Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is cut down and cast into the fire" (cf. Matthew 3:10). Eden There is a remarkable physiological interpretation of the Garden of Eden that evinces a certain amount of anatomical knowledge on the part of Simon or his followers. Here, Paradise is the womb, and the river going out of Eden is envisioned as the umbilical cord. The five books of Moses are made to represent the five senses: *Genesis: Conception and Sight *Exodus: Birth and Hearing *Leviticus: Respiration and Smell *Numbers: Speech and Taste * Deuteronomy: Synthesis and Touch Fragment As the female side of the original being appears the "thought" or "conception" (ennoia), which is the mother of the Aeons. There is a mystical passage on the unity of all things, suggestive of the Emerald Tablet. Its language seems to throw light on the story about Helen.Hippolytus, Philosophumena, vi. 17 }} Practices The Simonians were variously accused of using magic and theurgy, incantations and love-potions; declaring idolatry a matter of indifference that was neither good nor bad, proclaiming all sex to be perfect love, and altogether leading very disorderly, immoral lives. Eusebius''Church History, II, xiii calls the Simonians the most immoral and depraved of mankind. In general, they were said to regard nothing in itself as good or bad by nature: it was not good works that made men blessed, in the next world, but the grace bestowed by Simon and Helena on those who followed them. To this end, the Simonians were said to venerate Simon under the image of Zeus, and Helena under that of Athene. However, Hippolytus adds that "if any one, on seeing the images either of Simon or Helen, shall call them by those names, he is cast out, as showing ignorance of the mysteries." From this it is evident that the Simonians did not allow that they actually worshipped their founders. In the Clementine ''Recognitions Helena is called Luna, ii. 8, 9 which may mean that the images were allegorical representations of the sun and moon. The writer of the pseudo-Cyprian De Rebaptismate says that on the strength of the words of John, that "we were to be baptized with the Holy Ghost and with fire," the Simonians maintained that the orthodox baptism was a mere form, and that they had the real baptism, for, as soon as their neophytes went down into the water, a fire appeared on it. The writer does not dispute the fact, but is at a loss what to make of it. Was it a bit of jugglery, or a natural phenomenon, or a piece of self-deception, or an effect of magic? In advocacy of this baptism, we are told, there was composed by the same heretics a book which was inscribed the Preaching of Paul. All of this, however, is information provided to us via the secondhand hearsay of the Simonians' heresiologist opponents. It is doubtful that these detractors would faithfully and accurately report the truth about Simon and his followers, that is, if they even actually had such information in the first place. The Testimony of Truth Outside of these patristic sources, the Simonians are briefly mentioned in the Testimony of Truth (58,1-60,3) from the Nag Hammadi Library, wherein the Gnostic author seems to include them among a long list of "heretics": Translator Birger A. Pearson notes that these passages probably deal with the practices of libertine Gnostic sects, but from the fragmentary state of the text, it is impossible to know to what groups are being referred. The staunchly ascetic author may have had no more issue with the Simonians than their marrying and having children. However, Epiphanius also accuses the Simonians of having "enjoined mysteries of obscenity and—to set it forth more seriously—of the sheddings of bodies, emissionum virorum, feminarum menstruorum, and that they should be gathered up for mysteries in a most filthy collection; that these were the mysteries of life, and of the most perfect gnosis."Epiphanius, Panarion, 58. Legacy Closely connected with them were the Dositheans and Menandrians, who should be regarded probably as branches of the Simonians. Their names came from Dositheus and Menander. Dositheus, a Samaritan, is said to have originally been the teacher and then the pupil of Simon Magus. As late as the beginning of the 7th century, Eulogius of AlexandriaIn Photius, "Bibliotheca cod.", 230 opposed Dositheans who regarded Dositheus as the great prophet foretold by Moses. Dositheus died from starvation."Pseudo-Clemen. Recognitions," I, 57, 72; II, 11; Origen, "Contra Cels.", I, 57; VI, 11; "De principiis", IV, 17; "In Matth. Comm.", XXXII, P.L., XIII, 1643; "In Luc. Hom.", XXV, ibid., 1866; Epiphanius, "Haer.", XX. Origen, who was ordained priest in AD 231,Eus. H. E. vi. 23, 26 speaks of Dositheus, and then goes on to say: Like Simon, Menander—a pupil and, after Simon's death, his most important successor - also proclaimed himself to be the one sent of God, the Messias. In the same way he taught the creation of the world by angels who were sent by the Ennoia. He asserted that men received immortality and the resurrection by his baptism and practiced magical arts. The sect named after him, the Menandrians, continued to exist for a considerable length of time. Notes Source * * External links *[http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/050106.htm Hippolytus, Philosophumena (Book VI)] *[http://www.gnosis.org/naghamm/testruth.html The Testimony of Truth] Translation to English by Søren Giversen and Birger A. Pearson *Schaff's History of the Christian Church, volume II, chapter XI Simon Magus and the Simonians *Catholic Encyclopedia: Simon Magus *Jewish Encyclopedia: Simon Magus *Encyclopedia Britannica: Simon Magus Category:Gnosticism Category:2nd century in religion fr:Simonisme he:סימוניזם pt:Simonianismo